This invention is primarily about multi-story, multi-family apartment and hotel pre-finished construction utilizing three-dimensional modules. It also applies to other types of housing and motels as well as to educational, office and community facilities.
When mobile homes are included, approximately two-thirds of the housing produced in the United States today is built in factories using one of three industrialized housing methods or systems or combinations thereof, as follows:
1) skeletal, with components (structural frame with in-filled non-bearing wall panels);
2) panel, with components (structural floor and wall panels);
3) modular or three dimensional, with or without major components (boxes or sections of houses or buildings).
Of these three, modular systems allow the most work and pre-finishing to be done in the factory and therefore the least amount of work in the field, and the present invention relates to a basically modular system. Factory pre-manufacturing and pre-finishing can be best completely realized by the modular systems, and to do so has many advantages. For one thing, factory wages are substantially less than field wages. In addition, a factory can offer better working conditions and can accommodate year-round work. Also, factory work can be under a one-shop-jurisdiction, which can mean more efficient operation because a worker is able to perform more than one trade or task. Finally, assembly line efficiency is greater than on-site work.
Most multi-family modular systems in use today call for the units to be partially or fully pre-finished in the factory so that interior partitions, doors, fixtures, equipment, windows, etc. are installed in the modules in the factory. However, when the full pre-finished modules have been heretofore assembled into a building, assembly has resulted in non-functional redundancy if materials, i.e., double walls or double floors within the same living unit where it is not needed. Cost estimates and actual accounting figures indicate that this redundancy typically adds 100% to the cost of the structure, depending upon the system. Moreover, most of such systems have been based upon a mobile home sectionalized unit which is a very inflexible system for different plan configurations and packing possibilities.
On the other hand, where heretofore attempts have been made to eliminate redundancy, wherein modules are stacked in an alternated or checkerboard pattern in vertical cross-section creating so-called xe2x80x9cfree spaces,xe2x80x9d it has been impossible to pre-finish the free spaces at the factory and, as a result, the cost of on-site finishing of, in particular, bathrooms and kitchens has been increased by at least $3.00 to $4.00 per square foot. Furthermore, such systems, when applied to apartments, townhomes and hotels, cannot intrinsically handle the noise attenuation and fire separation requirements at the party walls without going to extra expense and compromising the system. Also, the economic need to have bathroom and kitchens in modules rather than as free spaces, so that they can be preassembled, has been a restraint on the flexibility of such a non-redundant system heretofore available.
In response to the above shortcomings, the inventor in the present case had filed for and received three patents which addressed and solved the above problems. The first (xe2x80x9crotational systemxe2x80x9d) did so by using xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped modules in cross-section which, when stacked, prevented double floors and, by rotating the modules 90 degrees in plan to each other, prevented double walls. There was no redundancy of floors or walls, but yet there was 100% coverage by modules which allowed for full preassembling, particularly for bathrooms and kitchens. It also easily allowed for the needed double walls at party walls. It is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,125 granted Sep. 27, 1977. The second and third patents (xe2x80x9cparallel systemxe2x80x9d) solved the same problems and has the same attributes by making the width of the xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped module the width of the living unit as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,073,102 and 4,194,339 granted Feb. 14, 1978 and Mar. 25, 1980, respectively. However, in the actual application of these patents over the last 21 years, certain shortcomings in floor plan design flexibility, particularly for larger living units, appeared in both systems with the result that either there were double walls or the floor plans were compromised in their functional or aesthetic quality. Although the xe2x80x9cparallel systemxe2x80x9d can accommodate a wide variety of plans of any size, it can only do so with relatively high production and handling costs.
The new invention solves the shortcomings of the previous inventions by combining the stacking geometries of the xe2x80x9crotationalxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cparallelxe2x80x9d systems while introducing a new element, thus achieving ultimate planning flexibility on a single living unit floor plan without redundancy of walls. The elements can be of any size up to 60 feet in width and up to 14 feet in depth if shipped or of any size at all if produced in an on-site factory. The height of the modular elements will generally range between 8 and 12 feet.
The system of this invention employs two basic elements which are stacked in conjugation or in parallel and which are added to be filled into and embellished, all as called for by the particular plan in which they are employed. These two basic elements are:
1) A first type of rectangular module, having two parallel bearing walls across the width and joined together by a floor. The two opposite ends in the longitudinal direction are either open or have non-bearing walls. From the standpoint of bearing walls, this type of module can be referenced as xe2x80x9cU-shapedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cU-shaped in vertical cross-section.xe2x80x9d
2) A second type of rectangular module similar to the first module but without one of the bearing walls so that the module consists of one wall and the slab, can be termed xe2x80x9cL-shapedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cL-shaped in cross-section.xe2x80x9d
The xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped module has no roof ceiling. It can be braced during transportation. When the system of this invention is used on the top story of the building, a horizontal panel is used to top off the assemblage of xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped modules below.
When these two basic modules are packed together to build the final structure, both the xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped module and the xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped module are stacked in plan in parallel along the open side slab edge and in rotation within the unit on any one floor so as not to have any double walls within the unit. There are double fire and noise separation walls between the units. Moreover, when placing either a xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped module upon a xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped module, there are no double floors. This avoidance of redundancy in housing units by mating and placing xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped modules is a basic principle by which great economy and flexibility can be achieved. When the system is constructed of pre-cast concrete, which would definitely be the case in any structure taller than four to six stories, all the modules are connected together by means of welding steel plates to steel angles that have been cast into the modules. In the case of the floor panel portion of the xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped module connecting to a xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped module, the welded connection is a shear connection.
The fact that the modules can be adjusted to various sizes further increases their flexibility. The modules are pre-finished as much as possible in the factory; exactly how much depends upon the specific manufacturer, the governing codes and union agreements.
The four main objectives of the system of this invention are (1) to maximize the amount of work done in the factory; (2) to minimize the amount of work done in the field; (3) to eliminate non-functional redundancy of materials; and (4) to allow for infinite, economical flexibility of planning possibilities. Certain aspects of the system are (1) the use of xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped modules on top of one or more levels of the same xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped modules; (2) the top floor of these modules are topped off with a roof panel, so that in the case of concrete, a much more economical three-sided pre-casting form (mold) can be used instead of a four-sided form; and (3) these xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d shaped modules are arranged in rotated and parallel positions with strategic xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped modules, also in rotation or parallel positions to prevent double walls, to form all the structural walls of a single living unit. Intermediate non-structural or plumbing walls can be constructed of any code-complying material.
The modules of this invention can be easily lifted by forklift, are easily transported by truck, train or ship, and are quickly and easily set in place in the building on-site by crane; they are economical, flexible elements. The simple concept of this system can be organized to conform to any way of living. Although this system is primarily intended for hotels and one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments from one to 24 stories, depending upon the structural material, whether it be concrete, metal, wood, or other molded material, the illustrations contained herein show the principle applied to a specific design for a four-bedroom apartment with details for concrete construction. This unit can be in an apartment building of two to 24 stories high. This system also applies to single story and/or detached dwellings, motels and non-residential applications.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of preferred embodiments, given as an example and in no way intended to limit the invention to a particular material, a particular height or size of building, to any particular floor plan or exterior design, or to a particular type of living unit.